8
MEMORIES
In September of 2015, the Shattuck Wagon, once used to
bring SPS boys from campus to Long Pond and on other
local outings in Concord, was one of seven antique horse-
drawn vehicles purchased as a lot from a Conway, N.H.,
collector. The vehicles – dubbed “the seven” – all bear
the logo of the Abbot-Downing Company, a local manu-
facturer known for producing the Concord Coach.
In addition to the Shattuck Wagon, the collection also
includes the Crawford House Mountain Wagon, a once
common three-spring delivery wagon, and a one-of-
a-kind pony sleigh. The City of Concord supplemented
fundraising by the Abbot-Downing Historical Society
to help pay $175,000 for the lot of antique vehicles,
outbidding a carriage museum in the Midwest to take
ownership of the collection ahead of a September 1,
2015, deadline. To help the Historical Society reach its
goal, St. Paul’s School contributed a $5,000 gift toward
the acquisition. The Shattuck Wagon was dubbed the
rarest of the seven antique vehicles and alone carried
a $75,000 price tag. Last September, the Concord City
Council voted to fund the Shattuck portion of the pur-
chase through its economic development reserve fund.
Prior to procuring the recent additions, the Historical
Society owned two Abbot-Downing coaches.
According to a fundraising video produced by the
Abbot-Downing Historical Society, the Shattuck Wagon
(also known as “the barge”) is “part of the most extraor-
dinary collection ever assembled of the single factor
which has distinguished the City of Concord and made
a global difference.” All seven vehicles, the video says,
“were made at the Abbot-Downing factory on South
Main St. in Concord around the turn of the 20th century.”
The Historical Society has a mission of educating the
public about the significance of the Concord Coach and
its role in American transportation, making the return of
the Shattuck Wagon and the other vehicles particularly
significant in preserving a part of Concord history.
The Shattuck Wagon recently returned to Concord
was the larger of the Shattuck club’s two barges. It was
able to carry as many as 20 passengers comfortably. The
barge is commemorated in one of two plaques created
in the 20th century by woodcarver John Gregory Wiggins
in honor of the Form of 1894.
“In the upper portion of the shield,” wrote Wiggins
in his description of the plaque, “we have the Shattuck
barge, which made the trip from Long Pond to School
in six minutes.”
The full history of the Shattuck Wagon after its depar-
ture from St. Paul’s is not completely clear. The confusion
may come from the fact that the Shattuck club owned
two barges – a large and a small version. In total, Abbot-
Downing made three vehicles for St. Paul’s, including a
barge for Halcyon.
Harry Wilmerding of the Form of 1925 wrote to
Alumni Horae
in the fall of 1961, sharing that he had
witnessed the Shattuck Wagon in action, transporting
visitors around the Mystic Seaport Museum. Another
letter in that issue from Percy Preston ’32 stated that
the Shattuck barge had been given to the Mystic Seaport
Museum in the summer of 1961.
In that same issue, Charlie Culver ’39 sent a July 16,
1961, clipping to
Alumni Horae
from the
Hartford
Historic Shattuck Wagon
by Jana F. Brown
